Google’s Economic Impact 2009 report (see Consumer Watchdog’s statement) released online and at a series of press events around the country on Tuesday, shows an off-key bias about our nation’s citizens.
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Google’s America: White and Male
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Congressional Panel Seeks WiFi Data Answers From Google
Meanwhile, consumer advocacy group Consumer Watchdog on Wednesday urged state attorneys general to investigate whether the company broke wiretap, privacy and unfair business practices laws. The group also called on state authorities to demand that Google preserve all documents relating to its data-collection activities because they could be evidence in criminal or civil cases.
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Google Worth $1 Billion to Pa. Commerce
The report drew mixed reactions yesterday. The nonprofit Consumer Watchdog organization dismissed it as hype based on “cooked accounting” that counts benefits, but doesn’t consider the impact on some content providers and competitors who suffer from Google’s “monopolistic control of search.”
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Google Raises Its Game In Washington
John Simpson, a researcher for the nonprofit Consumer Watchdog who was the first to raise questions about McLaughlin’s appointment to the White House, said Google’s bumbling intellectual persona in Washington is just an act.
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Google Touts Economic Impact of $645M for Utah — Internet Giant Brushes Aside Critic of Its Motives
The announcement drew an immediate response from a nonprofit consumer-advocacy organization, Consumer Watchdog. The group said Google’s motives in releasing the report were driven by “its attempts to quell worldwide outrage over the WiSpy scandal” and that this is “classic corporate PR spin to divert justified criticism.”
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Google Events Offer a Defense to Criticism
At least one vocal critic of the company said the report overstates Google’s contributions. The company didn’t generate this economic activity so much as facilitate it, said John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog. There were other businesses that connected companies with customers before Google was founded 12 years ago, and the report failed to take into account lost revenue and jobs within those industries, notably media and advertising, he said.
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Google: $14.1B Generated in California, $54B in Nation in 2009; Consumer Group Scoffs
Consumer Watchdog said Google’s economic report relies on cooked accounting that only counts benefits while factoring in none of the costs Google places on society.
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Protect your privacy on Google: Tips from Computerworld
A great “smart paranoid’s guide to using Google” at Computerworld today takes you step by step through “down-and-dirty details on how to maintain your privacy while using Google’s myriad services.” It’s chock full of precautions,…
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Straus Seeks State Probe Into Google Data Capture
The data collection could extend to about 30 countries, said John M. Simpson, a consumer advocate with Consumer Watchdog, a nonprofit group that has called on the Federal Trade Commission to probe Google’s actions. Simpson said he has not heard of any state attorneys general taking up the matter yet, but a response by states is likely as people become more aware of the implications. He said there is mounting outrage against the company.
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Google needs to come clean on WiSpy
As the WiSpy scandal unfolded last week CEO Eric Schmidt, speaking in England, tried to calm the furor by claiming “no harm, no foul.” This week it’s clear that despite the fondest hopes of those in the Googleplex, the firestorm won’t go away.